Passauer Glasmuseum (The Passau Glass Museum)

I sailed into Passau on the Danube river and woke up that morning to see a postcard perfect Bavarian city. Passau is a small town on a peninsula, surrounded by three rivers (Danube, Inn, Ilz), and completely walkable. I had just one day to spend there. The plan was to shop the Christkindlmarkt (Christmas market), attend an organ concert in St. Stephen's Cathedral, and wander residential neighborhoods (one of my favorite things to do when I travel). Even after accomplishing all of that, my friend and I stumbled into the Glasmuseum on a whim.

We thought we'd maybe kill an hour and see a few tea sets. We had no idea what we were getting into. Well over four hours later, we were still going case by case and room by room, taking hundreds of photos and marveling at how little we apparently knew about the art of glass. The woman at the reception desk told us there are over 30,000 pieces in total, but they only have room to display 13,00 at a time. The collection on display covers 200 years of history (Baroque, Empire, Biedermeier, Classicism, Historicism, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, and Modernism…thanks for the era reminder, Wiki). We rode an elevator to the top of the Hotel Wilder Mann and worked our way down all four floors and through nearly 30 different rooms. It's gorgeous and esoteric and one of the best surprises of my two weeks abroad. Whether you spend four hours or forty minutes, go.